DORY. 163 



supposed to have been the fish out of whose mouth the 

 Apostle took the tribute money ; leaving on its sides, in 

 proof of the identity, the marks of his finger and thumb. 

 Another origin for the spots on the sides of the Dory has 

 also been assigned. St. Christopher, in wading through an arm 

 of the sea, bearing the Saviour, whence his name of Christo- 

 phorus, is reported to have caught a Dory, and to have left 

 those impressions on its sides, to be transmitted to all pos- 

 terity as an eternal memorial of the fact. The name of 

 Doree was therefore said to be derived from the French, 

 adoree, ' worshipped. 1 



Our common appellation of John Dory is also said to be 

 of foreign derivation, and even with a second reference to St. 

 Peter. The fishermen of the Adriatic call this fish il jani- 

 tor 'e, ' the gatekeeper,' in allusion to the supposed keys of 

 the gates of heaven, of which the Apostle is pictured to be the 

 bearer ; and in several countries of Europe the Dory is called 

 St. Peter's fish. The real origin of the English name for this 

 fish may be questioned ; but it is probably derived from the 

 French, doree, or jaune doree, in reference to its peculiar 

 golden yellow colour. 



At what precise time the epithet of John became prefixed 

 to the simple name of this fish, it might be difficult to as- 

 certain : its name of Doree is at least as old as Merrett, who, 

 in his Pinax Rerum Naturalium Brilanmcarum, 1666, 

 speaks of it as a Doree, or a Dorn. 



The Dory is considered a rare fish in the northern coun- 

 ties. It has been taken on the coast of Cumberland. In 

 Ireland it occurs on the coast of Londonderry and Antrim ; 

 and, on the south, along the coast of Waterfowl. It is 

 taken on the Cornwall and Devonshire coasts, sometimes 

 even in profusion ; and, onwards to the east, on the Hamp- 

 shire and Sussex shores ; but on the north-east coast it 



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